RIP Corey Mitchell

Though I cannot say I knew Corey as much as some others, we became friends following our first year at HOUSECORE and he was a great inspiration as a writer, metal fan, horror movie buff, joker and person. Corey gave us words of encouragement when Drunk in a Graveyard needed them and he remained a steadfast supporter of our particular brand of humor and review. Corey frequently spoke to us both about our work and would promote our page, linking us several times on the official Housecore facebook. Corey made everyone at Housecore Horror feel as an equal, from our very first year attending to this our second wherein we attended as accredited media. Corey was humble and a special kind of real. Hanging out with him this year at Housecore Horror he was animated about the festival and ambitious for the future. He remembered us by name, even going so much into giving us shit for ducking out of Texas Chainsaw early to grab some much needed sleep. When we found out about Corey’s passing we were drinking on South Congress and time stopped. That news was a kick in the guts and a punch in the teeth and I kept waiting for someone to make a “just kidding” post but it didn’t come. We quietly toasted Corey in the Lucky Robot Japanese Kitchen with strong drink and reminisced that only a few short hours prior he had been high fiving us all.
Housecore Horror changed the direction of Drunk in a Graveyard and we owe that change and motivation to Corey and Phil, and today we raise our drinks to Corey Mitchell and offer our thanks to him for being who he was – a nerd, a metal maniac, a horror freak, and a really fucking decent person. The graveyard is silent today.

Scotty:

It’s hard to put into words the weight I felt Monday afternoon. After a weekend of once-in-a-lifetime concerts, unique experiences and good times still fresh in my head, news came through that Corey Mitchell had passed away. I couldn’t have been more stunned. Less than 48 hours before, I had been watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre on the same movie screen as him at the festival he helped found with Philip Anselmo. Less than 48 hours before I had talked to him about TCM and despite it already being past the witching hour of an already long day, his pure enthusiasm for the movie and the Housecore festival as a whole was infectious.

There are many more people who knew Corey far better than I did but that didn’t stop him from treating me with the same amount of respect as he did anyone else he came in contact with. His passion for both metal and horror movies is the stuff of raw inspiration and his brain child, the Housecore Horror Film Festival, is a perfect example of that. It is such a pure fusion of both the things that this site and my life have thrived on: heavy metal and horror movies – both abrasive, in your face and unapologetic. I couldn’t have imagined that there existed a place that the musicians I grew up listening to and the directors I grew up watching would stand on equal ground as the fans, but Housecore is that place. Your presence will be sorely missed and the only thing I regret is that I couldn’t thank you one last time for all the unique memories and lifelong friends from around the world HHFF has brought into my life.